Turbo Time
by xlime4
Summary: As Litwak's Arcade celebrates a retro party, new arcade games from the past are brought back. Unfortunately for some, this includes an unused version of TurboTime. When the new Turbo is forced to live with the consequences of his evil counterpart's actions, he ends up in some very sticky situations, some of which he can't escape from...
1. Racing

_**A/N** \- Before we begin, I just wanted to say that this is post-movie, there will be a character death. Don't worry, it isn't Vanellope or Turbo, but please just be aware of that. There might be some possible Vanillatastic (I've not decided yet), but before you click the 'back' button, let me tell you that Turbo is meant to be envisioned as much younger than shown in the movie due to the fact that he's just been plugged in, meaning that this Turbo and Vanellope can have a less-than-gross relationship. On another note, I want to thank my beta readers for helping me with the story so far, and I will made an acknowledgements chapter at the end of the story to specify who my beta readers were. The picture on my FanFiction is not drawn by me, but rather a very talented DeviantART artist called Turbotastique, so make sure you check out her work! Her comics/drawings of Turbo are just the cutest thing ever. Well, enough of my ramblings. Enjoy the story!_

* * *

_[__startup initialising...]_

"Nmn..."

_[90% complete...]_

"Wha...?"

_[startup 100% complete]_

A silhouette of red and white stumbled to his feet, while each pixel carefully rearranged to shape his form, sparking tinges of pain in their wake. He rubbed his temples, but soon realized there was no relief in the action, just a burning headache and a very heavy mist clouding his eyes. His dizziness finally catching up to his sluggish mind, he stumbled across the empty space that was quickly filling up with the pixels of the game, all the while occasionally tripping over his own feet. Cheering crowds, two blue and white jumpsuited people, trophies, and racing all filled his previously blank mind. He saw who he was. Though he didn't know how, he knew his identity to be Turbo, a racer for the game TurboTime.

"W-what'th going on?" Turbo quivered, feeling overwhelmed by everything around him as he turned about, trying to take everything in. Red and white pixels were creating an object at the corner of his eye. He turned toward it, glancing at it blankly for a few seconds. He then recognised, from what he quickly realised was programmed memory, that it was his cart.

"Oh, I thee..." He pressed a finger to his face, looking thoughtfully up at the sky. When he turned around, he saw a faint crowd in the distance, shuffling and mumbling about something. It sounded like they were awaiting something to happen, something exciting, something...

"...Like racing." Turbo turned around and placed his hands on his cart with a beaming smile on his face. "Well," he looked briefly toward the still murmuring crowd and then back to his cart, "if it'th a race they want, it'th a race they'll get!"

Turbo lifted himself in and revved up the engine. He put his foot on the gas pedal and zoomed past the starting line. Crowds roared after Turbo as he zipped past. Turbo, however, was far more concerned with were the competition was. No matter which way he looked, only empty landscape loomed ahead. Just when he thought there must not be any, a blue and white blur whirled around him as he was turning a corner. Startled, Turbo frantically turned the steering wheel and closed in on the rear of the mystery blue and white driver. This inadvertently gave Turbo leeway to drive straight ahead, and before the blue and white driver could react, Turbo was heading up towards the finish line at what his speedometer told him was 180 miles per hour.

_"Lap one!" _an announcer shouted, igniting the roars of the crowd again. Turbo grinned at the crowd, calling out his catchphrase as he flew by, "Turbo-Tastic!", and flashed a thumbs up. However, because Turbo wasn't watching the road, a second blue and white jumpsuited racer sneaked past him. Angry at this trick, Turbo tried to overtake him, but to no avail. The first blue and white racer then caught up behind him, leaving Turbo trapped between a racer, whose lead was growing, and his twin, who was quickly gaining on him.

"Come on, come on!" Turbo angrily stamped on his pedal, twisting the steering wheel to block every attempt at passing the racer behind him made. The blue and white racer in front, noticing his plight, even had the nerve to give Turbo a cheeky grin.

Still stuck between two racers, Turbo peeked out of the side of his cart to find the finish line right around the corner. Frustrated, he tried to get around the racer in front by going to the right. Much to Turbo's annoyance, the racer in front went to the right and the racer behind went to the left. The racer behind now had plenty of room to go right ahead of Turbo.

_"Lap two!" _the announcer said again, the speakers making a deathly screech. Covering their ears, the crowds hissed. "Oh, sorry, my bad," the announcer mumbled.

Turbo, being rather cunning, used everyone's flinch to his advantage. As the two blue and white racers were busy covering their ears, Turbo boltd past them, causing them to lose their concentration and crash into a ditch. Giving one more "Turbo-Tastic" pose to them, Turbo rounded the next corner.

Meanwhile, the blue and white racers were silently grumbling, though not out loud, about their ordeal. The race cars and their owners were sent back to the nearest piece of road to them, giving them a chance of winning again.

Positioning themselves so that the turns were perfect, the racers slowly but surely caught up with Turbo. Glancing briefly behind him, Turbo saw them edge closer to him and panicked. If he could just make it to the third lap without falling behind, he would be fine...

"_Lap three!" _the announcer called out, Turbo hearing the audience cheer once again. He didn't dare give them a pose again, though, in fear of the other racers somehow sneaking past him again. Nevertheless, he did manage to grin at the audience before whizzing around the next corner.

The blue and white racers were getting ready for their plan. They had no speed boosters, but they were going to get past Turbo once and for all. Creeping up to Turbo, they waited until they were nearly at the finish line before going at full speed.

Turbo headed around one last corner before he could finally see, in the distance, the grand finish line. Grinning wildly, the racer left trails of smoke as he barreled down the road, not knowing that a certain two racers were preparing to trap him. One gave a thumbs up to the other as they both drove parallel to one another. Much to his horror, Turbo realised their intentions almost a moment too late. In his blind panic, he slammed on the foot pedal harder, forcing his cart to it's absolute limit.

At last, the racers were past the finish line, though it was difficult to say who the winner was at first glance. The crowd loved the race, throwing their food and drinks into the air in excitement. Turbo grinned at them once again, giving his signature pose. The other two racers rolled their eyes at each other before one of them headed down to the podiums titled "1st", "2nd", and "3rd".

"It doesn't look like our winner is so clear right now, folks! We're gonna have to take it to the speed cameras," the announcer said, the microphone clicking as the crowd was whispering about who the winner might be. Turbo looked unsurely at the crowd as they talked, hoping that he hadn't let any of them down if he lost. However, one of the blue and white racers gave him a reassuring glance and a pat on the shoulder before heading off to join his brother. Another click was heard, and the crowd immediately went silent.

"Well, we know who the winner is, now, folks," the announcer spoke solemnly to the crowd. "The winner is..."

Turbo stared wide-eyed, praying with every pixel that he had that he had won. Not a single sound was made from the crowd as they too waited almost as anxiously as Turbo himself.

"_**...Turbo!**_"

Turbo jumped up with excitement, fist-pumping the air as the crowd poured confetti over the stands. Rushing to the podium titled "1st", Turbo gladly climbed up and accepted his trophy, giving one last "Turbo-Tastic" stance to the crowd as they cheered.

After the race, food wrappers were left all over the stands, cola spilling over the seats. The crowds basically vanished, and Turbo was left alone with the other racers. Turbo noticed that they looked exactly alike, but figured that asking why was not a very polite or proper way to greet his new co-workers. Instead, he decided to introduce himself.

"Hey, my name'th Turbo," Turbo spread his arm out to shake the hands of the two racers, who were giggling about something, though no sound actually came out. "What'th your names?"

The two racers looked at each other wistfully, in unison. One of them stuck out their tongue and pointed at it, before sadly shaking his head. Turbo's face softened at the realisation that neither of them could talk.

"Oh, um, well, I can't call you 'blue and white racerth" forever, can I?" Turbo scratched his head, concluding that he could make acquaintances with them despite their inability to speak. To be honest, he half realised that he had his own speech difficulty. He would pronounce 's' like 'th', not really too sure on how to pronounce the letter properly. One thing he did know was that it was not the right way to pronounce it - the announer spoke more clearly than he did - but he couldn't really do anything about it. "What do you want to be called?"

The blue and white racers shrugged their shoulders.

"Okay, how about...?" Turbo thought, looking skyward before thinking up an idea. "Hey, why don't I call you 'The Racing Twinth'?"

The racers shook their head.

"Okay, what about 'Fred' and 'George'?" the blue and white racers laughed (but, of course, didn't produce any sound) at this.

"Hey, at leatht I'm trying!" Turbo blushed a bright red, which was extemely obvious in contrast to his paper-white complexion. "Okay, 'Mandy' and 'Dandy'?"

More laughter.

"'Brututh' and 'Charlie'?"

Nope.

"What about 'TurboTime Twinth'?"

The blue and white racers stopped laughing. They looked at each other, waiting for each other's approval. Realising they were both content with their new name, they gave a thumbs up and a wide grin to Turbo, in unison.

"Great, I gueth you're the 'TurboTime Twinth', then!" Turbo gave a thumbs up back to the twins.

The TurboTime twins held hands and jumped with excitement as Turbo proudly thought about his newfound friends. Looking at his trophy, Turbo saw a reflection of good things to come for them all.

"Come on, let'th go to my place!" Turbo gestured to the twins, who nodded in agreement without complaint. It seemed like nothing could go wrong for them at all. But, of course, life wasn't and isn't that simple. Outside their game, characters were waiting for Turbo to cause disruption in their arcade and possibly shut it down.

And some of them were ready to do anything to stop this threat.


	2. Tapper

The racers left their carts near the stands, walking across the meadow with the grass poking at the soles of their feet. It was not much of a journey; Turbo knew that the house was just five minutes away, completely out of sight of any player. It must have been a secret or unfinished map because there didn't seem to be a reason why he would have a home.

"Guys, we're here!" Turbo pointed at something. In the distance, they saw a cobblestone building with warm light that illuminated from the windows and a miniature garden gnome which stood next to the snow white picket fence that bordered around the place. The three ran towards the house, Turbo hearing something tingle in his pocket when they got to the wooden door. He shuffled through it, pulling out a silver key, and unlocked the door.

Flicking the light on, Turbo went with the twins inside his home, putting his helmet on a peg and ruffling his charcoal black helmet hair. The twins dashed into the house, running right through the baby blue, tiled kitchen and quickly finding their way into the living room. The twins were excited about staying somewhere for the night, but even Turbo himself didn't know at first that he had a home. He only vaguely remembered its existence, thanks to his programmed memory. It was pretty simple, and fairly clean. On the plain red walls of the living room, pictures of red race cars captured in motion made up for the otherwise lack of decoration. The sofa was race-car shaped and coloured the same shade as the walls, however, the TurboTime Twins thought that the sofa was as plush and comfortable as a giant marshmallow.

In the kitchen there was a mini-fridge, stocked with a few cans of cola. Turbo opened a can and took a sip, relishing in the feeling of the cool, refreshing drink trickling into his mouth and down his throat. He peered through the doorway and watched as the twins started piling pillows up, draping blankets on top to form a tent-like pillow fortress. One twin wandered over to a mahogany bookshelf in the corner of the room, grabbing a book that caught his interest. Running his hands over the smooth hardback cover, he read the title, which suggested that it was a horror book: _Ghost_. Excitedly dashing to the other twin, they opened the book together and gawked at the mysterious images displayed on the paper.

"Thith thtuff ith great, guyth!" Turbo called to the TurboTime Twins, offering cans to them. Shaking their heads, they went back to reading their horror book while pranking each other under the makeshift tent. Shrugging in response, Turbo drank more of his Coke before settling down to watch a T.V show about cars. After a while, Turbo got bored and decided to take a walk.

"Hey guyth, I'm going out." Turbo headed to the white door, the twins nodding in response. Walking along, a cool breeze brushing past his face, he noticed that there wasn't much to look at other than the grass, a race track in the corner and a tunnel…

Wait, a tunnel?

Turbo sprinted to the tunnel, noting the fancy writing above it. It read, "To Game Central Station."

"What'th Game Central Thtation?" Turbo asked no one in particular, placing one finger on his lip as he was thinking. Deciding that it was best to check it out, Turbo hopped on the train, which looked like a row of cars attached to each other.

* * *

Turbo could not believe his eyes when he arrived at Game Central Station, frantically darting his head in every possible direction. The floor was a creamy marble colour, and the walls, where more tunnels were, were a stale brown. However, that was not nearly all there was to witness. Big, bulky characters with massive grey armour walked passed him with guns over their shoulders, not even glancing once at a very awestruck Turbo. An orange fox with two tails twisting like a helicopter glided over him to some other tunnel, and two very small angel-like creatures ran over to who-knows where, possibly to wherever that fox was going. Oh, there were so many new people to meet!

"Thith. Ith. _Awesome!_" Turbo gasped with excitement, his eyes frantically roaming around the large room, desperate to drink in every image.

Looking back at ground level, he noticed that the other characters stopped what they were doing and were now staring at him. One bulky character grimaced at him, clenching his fists and leaving a very confused Turbo worrying about getting beaten up. The weaker characters cowered behind the character, trusting that he would protect them.

"What?" Turbo questioned. The weak characters burst into motion and fled at the sound of his voice.

"What'th wrong?" Turbo took one step forward, and frowned at the characters that ran away, most of which were heading back to their own games. "Oh well, I'm sure I'll find a new friend someplace else!" Turbo said enthusiastically, giving a thumbs up and a smile to no-one in particular.

"Hey," the powerful character said. He had red dreadlocks framing his face and plum-coloured eyes. White gloves were perched on his hands, two claw-like, white spikes sticking out of them. Most notably, he had a white crescent mark on his completely red chest. Crossing his arms, he stared at Turbo with suspicion.

"Oh, hi!" Turbo grinned, not really understanding why the character glared with such animosity towards him.

"Who are you talking to?" the character asked.

"Oh, no-one. It jutht...well, it maketh me feel happy to do that!" Turbo smiled at him.

The character turned, walked away and waved him off, a small grin hidden on his face. "Make sure you don't go creating trouble..." he warned. Seriously, _this_ guy was a threat? Hardly. He was as short as a smurf and seemingly friendlier than Tails, his yellow fox friend.

"Huh?" Turbo tilted his head to the side. Everyone around him was acting really weird. He hadn't done anything wrong, so why were they acting like this? Well, he supposed that _this _guy was okay, but it was still unnerving. He just had to figure it out, but not right then. Instead, he decided to look around at his surroundings. There were more places to explore, places he'd never even heard of, places like _Pac-Man_, _Fix It Felix Jr_, _Asteroids_ and _Dance Dance Revolution._

"Ooh, that thoundth like a good place to go!" Turbo said, jumping up with excitement and pointing at a tunnel with the sign _Tapper_ stamped at the top.

* * *

Arriving at _Tapper_, Turbo was welcomed with the smell of root beer tingling his nose and homely decoration. Fresh root beer taps were lining the walls and a sign with "root beer" stamped on it was hung up at the back of the room. The mahogany rectangular tables were lined up neatly in rows, and though it could have just been a trick of the light, it looked like there was a red light under the rim. The walls were a navy blue, sporting a pattern somewhat resembling the style of the artist William Morris, and some fierce-looking characters were sat on the leather bar stools, playing cards. Going over to sit down, he didn't notice the steely stares given to him, several characters dropping their playing cards and inevitably losing their game. Clueless about the annoyance of the other characters, Turbo lifted himself on the stool, too short to go and sit on it without some effort. Swinging his legs while waiting for his order, Turbo smiled into the distance as those characters slowly turned back to what they were doing.

"Can I get you anythin', sir?"

Turbo turned around to face a puffy man that resembled Mario, a short man with a big, red bow tie around his neck, a white vest, and a blue suit. He smiled at Turbo, feeling completely indifferent to him despite the obvious atmosphere of distaste coming from the other patrons. After all, a customer's a customer. He wiped the tables, waiting for Turbo to order.

"What do you have?" Turbo asked, earning snickers from tables nearby. Whipping his head around in the direction of the laughter, he shouted "Hey, I'm new, okay?" a blush very evident on his face due to his paper-white complexion.

"It's alright," the man said nonchalantly. "We only sell root beer here."

"Okay," Turbo turned back around and returned the man's smile. This guy was the only one treating him decently right now. "I would like one root beer, then, pleathe."

"Coming right up!" the man chirped, making his way to the taps at a surprising speed and pouring a drink for Turbo. "Here you go, sir."

"Yum, lookth nice!" Turbo said, happily gulping down the drink. When he finished, he wiped his lips with the back of his hand. The man could only be glad that Turbo's drink was the non-alcoholic version, made for the kids that came to the bar. He couldn't bear to think about what would happen if Turbo got drunk."Thankth, you're Turbo-Tathtic!" he smiled, giving a signature thumbs up to the man before pushing himself off of the stool. Before darting off towards the tunnel, Turbo looked back to see Tapper cleaning the table. "By the way, what'th your name?"

"Tapper," the man replied. "You'll probably hear a lot of me around here."

"Really? Are you famous?" Turbo questioned.

"No, just...well-known," Tapper admitted.

Shrugging, Turbo turned back to the tunnel, skipping towards it. Looks were turning back to Turbo, everyone obviously afraid that something bad was going to happen to their games while they were out drinking at the bar.

"Hey, you do remind me of the ol' Turbo..." Tapper whispered to himself, drying a glass. "That is, before he went Turbo..."

"Huh? What did you thay?" Turbo looked over his shoulder. Tapper half expected him to glare at him, but the only thing he saw in his eyes were confusion and sadness. He saw that look somewhere before, many times. It was when Ralph would come in after a long day at work before he became the good guy of the arcade, chugging down a root beer and sometimes sleeping in the washrooms after closing time. Every day, he would wallow in his sorrows while talking to Tapper about his unhappiness about being the bad guy. He told him that he was his only friend, other than the other bad guys that went to Bad Anon and some of the homeless characters that roamed around Game Central Station. It carried on like this for thirty years, and Tapper didn't really feel like watching another game character go through the same thing. Even though he couldn't help the situation of Turbo being the bad guy of the entire arcade, at the very least he needed answers.

"Hey, could you come over here for a second?"

Turbo turned back around and walked up to Tapper. Turbo was considerably taller than Tapper, but he still looked at him like a child looking at their father: with admiration and familiarity. Clearly, he already saw Tapper as a friend. Instant trust in someone like that was not going to serve him well in the future, Tapper noted.

"I want you to know this," Tapper said, walking over to serve another customer while Turbo followed closely behind. "None of this is your fault. They're scared of you because another person, also called Turbo, went and tried to destroy the entire arcade."

"They're thcared of me becauthe of what thomeone elthe did?" Turbo frowned.

"Yep. They think you're going to do the same thing."

"But I'd never do that!" Turbo shrieked, horrified at the thought of doing such a thing.

"I know you wouldn't," Tapper ignored his shouting, turning back to face him. "But you've gotta prove it."

"How?" Turbo asked, hopelessness in his eyes.

"Just...do good stuff, like visiting Sugar Rush and helping Vanellope or somethin'."

"Vanellope?" Turbo questioned.

"Yeah, princess of Sugar Rush," Tapper held up a finger, suddenly remembering something. "Ah, but she does prefer to be called president..."

"I'm confuthed. Why call her a prethident when the'th a princeth?"

"That's just what she prefers," Tapper replied, leaving Turbo scratching his head. Noticing this, he decided to explain it better. "She used to not be a princess, but now she is one, she doesn't want to change herself for the title. She's callin' herself a president because it sounds better, though I'm not sure if she knows anythin' about politics..."

"Politicth?"

"Grown-up stuff," Tapper said simply.

"Oh."

Turbo rocked on the balls of his feet, his arms behind his back. He wasn't really sure who Vanellope was, but from the sounds of it, he and her would make good friends. Watching as Tapper served some other customers, he noticed that the last train was going to arrive in five minutes. Leaving his trophy behind since he couldn't really pay using any other method, he headed to the gateway of the tunnel, some characters throwing daggers at him from a distance. He was uncomfortable with the stares, but found that it would be best to ask Tapper one last question.

"Doeth Vanellope like racing?"

Tapper turned around from a customer to find Turbo standing at the tunnel. How did he get there so quickly? "Um, oh yeah. She loves it."

Yep, they were going to make great friends.

* * *

The last train from _Tapper_ arrived at Game Central Station. Turbo got off, capturing the scenery with his mind. Obviously, he was going to see it many times in the future, but he was so excited by what was happening around him that he didn't particularly care.

"Hey, that guy..." someone said, staring at him.

"That looks like Turbo!" someone else quivered.

"No duh, dolce!" a third person said. "Did you not hear that Litwak plugged in a new game?"

"Yeah, but I didn't think that it was going to be _Turbo_Time. That game was unplugged for a reason, you know..." the first person sighed.

Wait, what?

Turbo was confused. What did they mean by unplugged? Tapper never said anything about getting unplugged. He decided to go ask.

"Hey, um, can I talk to you for a thecond?"

The three ghosts who were talking suddenly turned a dark blue colour when they spotted Turbo.

"P-p-please don't hurt us!" the previously light blue ghost quivered.

"Y-y-yeah, t-t-they were just jokes!" the ghost next to him, who used to be pink, whimpered, planning to run away as soon as possible.

"I'm not going-" Turbo started, but the ghosts ran away before he had a chance to finish. "-to...hurt...you..."

Turbo stared sadly after them. He wished that they didn't feel that way about him, that the other Turbo never tried to take over the arcade, because it was getting pretty darn impossible to make friends. Yawning, he headed to the tunnel titled 'TurboTime', feeling too tired to overthink things. He could only hope that tomorrow this Vanellope girl racer would help him become the good guy that he truly was.


	3. Trophies

_"Attention! The arcade will open in 5 minutes. Please report to your game."_

Turbo shot up, the warm, red blanket melting away from his body. Head throbbing from the sudden headache he received from moving too fast, he groggily lifted himself from the bed, running his fingers through his messy hair before rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands. Stumbling to where his jumpsuit and helmet were hung up, he tried, with some difficulty, to put them on. The jumpsuit he had been wearing the night before had elasticated back to its original shape, meaning that it took a little bit longer to get it back on seeing as the tight spandex all but stuck to Turbo's joints. After several minutes, he managed to wriggle into his jumpsuit, though he did sweat slightly from the exertion.

"It'th go-time!" Turbo gave a small smirk to the silvery mirror, admiring his reflection and putting up one of his signature thumbs up. Clusters of fluffy hair were sticking out of the sides of his helmet, which Turbo tried his best to hide.

Loud footsteps resembling a small earthquake in the opinion of the TurboTime Twins were heard thundering down the stairs. The noise rather rudely awakened them, and they responded by turning over and pushing a pillow over their ears under their makeshift tent.

"Come on, let'th go!" Turbo was heard saying before he rushed out the door. Meanwhile, the twins were still trying to assess the situation, purple bruise-like bags prominent under their eyes from their late night. Yawning, they slowly followed Turbo out the door and to their karts next to the blue stands, all the while occasionally glancing at each other sluggishly. In complete opposition to the TurboTime Twins, Turbo excitedly jumped into his kart and turned his squeaking steering wheel, though he didn't dare tap the gas pedal and send the cart forwards. Crowds were starting to fill the stands, waiting in anticipation for the day ahead.

_"Quarter alert! This is not a drill."_

The twins jumped in their respective karts, the stands now full of cheering silhouettes. Their engines revved loudly, and everyone waited impatiently as the black title screen filled their pixelated environment. Turbo instinctively knew that he was supposed to drive through it.

Just then, Turbo heard giggling and running from outside the parameters of his environment. Looking up and out of his own world, Turbo saw a few children, streamers, and food in the next room of the arcade, with an array of party food on white tables. A banner reading "Retro Party" hung from the roof, decorated with artistic representations of some old game characters, including himself, at the bottom. The banner picture represented Turbo quite accurately, smiling and looking very youthful. However, the real thing had a more three-dimensional look with yellow teeth and yellow eyes, which was something that the picture lacked.

Hours ticked by with not a single player going over to play TurboTime. Though an optimist in and out of himself, Turbo realised that the children just didn't have much interest in his game at all, and he was becoming very upset about it. When he thought the children weren't looking, he abruptly moved forward then put on the brakes before shifting back to where he should have been. He did this repetitively, so desperate to race that he had a hard time controlling himself, much to the twins' annoyance.

"Hey, I remember this game!"

Turbo stopped and snapped his head towards the screen, where he saw a raven-haired adult. The adult stared in awe at the game, much to the amazement of the characters. All day they hadn't had a single player, so why was this particular person so enthusiastic about it?

"It's a shame about you and ol' RoadBlasters," the man grasped the sides of the console. "I'm sure I would have gone back to your game for old time's sake."

Pondering on what he said, Turbo listened intently. What did he mean, "you and ol' RoadBlasters"?

The adult man reached into his pocket, seemingly looking for something. He pulled out a foil-coloured coin and put it in the machine's slot. "Well, at least I can now, can't I?"

Crowds cheered again, overjoyed that a race was finally going to start. A beaming smile spread on his face, Turbo revved up the engine and got ready to race. Turbo gave a small thumbs up to his two companions as the engine whirred, though it wasn't visible enough for the player to see. The TurboTime Twins gave one back with an even bigger grin on their faces, shifting their gears and nodding at each other.

The traffic lights above them played, signaling that the race was about to begin. One, two, three…

_Go!_

The racers rocketed down the track, the wind beating against their faces. Bushes, trees, and the crowds were all but a misty blur to Turbo as he was forced into a sharp turn. Meanwhile, the player controlling Turbo was biting his tongue in concentration, realising his mistake. Turbo had to rely on the player to help him cross the finish line first since he wasn't supposed to move himself, but those kinds of turns weren't making that goal very probable.

Angling the turn just right, one twin curved around Turbo, much to his and the player's frustration. Grimacing, Turbo looked at the racer who was overtaking him. Although he could have just been imagining things, Turbo could have sworn he saw the twin stick a tongue out at him. Leaning forward, Turbo glared icily at the twin, his face turning cherry red. The twin knew that it wasn't his fault that those mistakes were being made, didn't he? If so, why was he looking at him like he was an idiot? If Turbo could say something, he-

Oh no.

Gripping the rubber steering wheel so hard that his knuckles almost went whiter than his natural skin tone, Turbo gaped, wide-eyed, at a wall, which was getting dangerously close to him. He frantically kicked the brakes, desperate for the player to stop making his kart go _faster_ and _towards_ the wall. Impulses so powerful that it caused pain for him to resist like this swept through him, like fire was burning his very code away. Too tired to carry on and sweating with fear, Turbo relaxed himself, closed his eyes, and thought about how he was going to go into a very long sleep…

_**Bang!**_

...And that was it. Turbo's eyes were still closed as the metal of the cart screeched on the wall, his body feeling like it was melting away from empty space and into different directions. It was an odd feeling, a feeling like pins and needles have on your feet when you've been sitting on them for too long. He felt the code ease off into an unknown location, his helmet making its way off of his head, and finally, his mind going blank.

A moment later, Turbo's eyes were forced open, revealing to him that he was now at the beginning of the racetrack. As Turbo and his kart flickered, he frantically scanned his environment, not believing what had just happened. How did he survive, and why was he back at the beginning? The only explanation he could find was that the game itself brought him back to life, but how did it do that?

Just then, Turbo briefly saw two blue and white blurs shoot past him. "Lap-" the announcer began, but stopped when the racers ignored him and went straight past the stands, the dust left behind folding into small clouds. "-Three..." he grumbled, the microphone clicking as he went off in defeat.

The TurboTime twins were already on lap three? _How? _Groaning, Turbo hit his head on his steering wheel, causing a loud honking sound to fill his surroundings. He hadn't even finished lap _one_. How was he going to win now? With this terrible player, he never would!

Turbo tried to calm himself down, rubbing his head. Maybe he was being a bit harsh. After all, his game was new, meaning that there were bound to be less-than-decent players around. Still, he couldn't help but feel like his code was being ripped apart by the fact that _he was losing and there was nothing he could do about it_.

There was an impulse to drive again, which Turbo didn't ignore this time. Hitting the gas pedal, he slowly made his way around the first corner. The player himself was getting frustrated, finding it impossible to keep up with the far-in-front TurboTime Twins.

Positivity, positivity, positivity…

Turbo just didn't feel it. Well, maybe he still had a chance; you never know. He wanted to believe that.

As the final turn came to a close, the twins were already at the finish line, heading out to the podiums. Turbo slowed his kart down, getting out and looking sadly at the floor. Standing on top of his "3rd" podium, Turbo could only pull off a dishonest and uncomfortable smile as a twin held up the "1st" trophy, towering over Turbo in what seemed to him like a mocking way.

The screen suddenly went black, Turbo feeling the urge to get in his kart and drive through it. Programming told him to glare at the player, though he didn't particularly feel like doing so, as the words "game over" loomed above him.

"Gee, sorry Turbo, I guess I'm not as great at this game as I used to be," the player smiled sadly before moving away, leaving a disheartened Turbo behind.

No more players came to his game for the rest of the day. Turbo sat on the "3rd" podium as the twins fought over the trophy, not really noticing Turbo's presence. The announcer couldn't tell the difference between them, so he had to guess who had actually won.

Sighing and sulking, Turbo caught the twins' attention. At first they were going to annoy him, but when they saw how upset Turbo was, their faces softened. Turbo looked like a sore loser, but from what they knew about him they could tell that he wasn't like that. The twins cautiously walked over, neither of them letting go of the trophy, all the while giving Turbo sympathetic smiles.

Turbo glanced at the twins, who were still smiling. "Oh, hi guyth," Turbo gave a small smile back to them, though it wasn't very genuine. What was he thinking? He should be happy that one of his friends won a race!

"Well, I'm thorry for acting thith way," Turbo looked back down at the floor, ashamed of himself. "I think..." Turbo began, pausing for a second as the twins still looked on at him sympathetically. "I think that thith..._programming_ ith making me feel thith way, but it doethn't excuthe my actionth. I'm thorry."

The twins looked at each other with regret, guilt washing over them. They _were_ mocking his driving skills, and even they could see that Turbo was being controlled by a player and therefore had no say in the matter about what he was doing. Nodding their heads at each other, they moved closer to Turbo, sitting beside him. This time, a genuine smile was spread on Turbo's face as the sun left golden streaks down the front of their bodies. They looked in awe at the never-ending field in the horizon, the grass swaying in harmony with the whistling wind and the bees buzzing over the daisies and the dandelions. Turbo leaned back, catching himself with his two arms behind his back, feeling the cold of the stone in contrast to the warm air around him. Indeed, there were many worlds to explore out there, and many new friends to meet.

Turbo felt a tap on his leg. Turning his head to face the twins, he saw that they were reaching out with the gold trophy in their hands, looking at him with an apologetic smile on their faces. Turbo's mouth fell open, though no words came out. He had nothing to say.

_They were giving the trophy to him._

"G-guyth..." Turbo stammered, shaking as he took the trophy from their grasp. The twins just grinned at him wildly, giving him a thumbs up in unison. Turbo glanced at the trophy, then back to the TurboTime Twins, then back to the trophy again. "You really thouldn't have..."

The twins nodded at Turbo, signifying that _they really should_. Peering over the trophy, Turbo noticed that there was something in it. It was multicoloured and had varying primary and block colours, mingled together in blotches of brown and shaped like beans. Turbo grabbed a handful and gestured to the twins. "Hey, what'th thith?"

One twin got a similar bean from his pocket and threw it in his mouth, making chomping sounds as he chewed it. The other twin was mysteriously giggling about something, but tried to hide it by clasping his hands over his mouth.

"Oh, you can eat them!" Turbo smiled enthusiastically, taking a bean from his hand. "Well, don't mind if I do..."

Turbo bit on the top half of the bean, sending the twins into hysterical fits of laughter. Before Turbo could ask what they were laughing at, he felt a horrible aftertaste of vomit clinging on to his tongue. Scratching it, he saw a twin shake a tub labelled 'vomit jellybeans'.

"Vomit jellybeanth?" Turbo gawked, not believing what had just happened. "Why, you..."

Turbo glared at the twins with just a hint of playfulness. Noticing his expression, the twins stopped laughing, jumped off of the podium and fled as fast as they could, though Turbo was quickly gaining on them. Yep, pranking him was a mistake.

"Get back here!" Turbo laughed, chasing them back to his home where he knew they wouldn't be safe from his wrath.


	4. Red Lines

Frothing bubbles floated up from the deep lava lakes of Diet Cola Mountain, dissolving anything that it came into contact with, regardless if it was sugar dust or the occasional falling mento. A small hut was carefully tucked against a corner of the volcano. It consisted of ragged scraps and bit of junk, all slowly starting to crumble. Clearly, the hut had been abandoned, much like the lifestyle its previous owner had lived. Dreams, hopes, and lies were what built the little sanctuary, where the glue haphazardly held it together. It was where the owner would daydream about one day just _finally getting to race_. For fifteen years, that owner was ridiculed as a glitch, when in reality, she was the princess of the game. No one remembered her. She like a half forgotten song, nothing more but an echo of a memory and nameless; a princess whose game was just plugged in when her throne was stolen by a power far greater than herself: by a master of code.

That life was abandoned with that shack which she'd called a home. Never in her wildest dreams did she think that she would be able to live in the decadent castle, which was only a short ways from Diet Cola Mountain, nor did she think that she would be listed on the roster, let alone as one of the most important racers of the game. Now, that was her reality. She was Princess Vanellope von Schweetz, the true and rightful ruler of Sugar Rush. She no longer had to live in the lonely volcano she once called home.

An explosion shook the mountain, the disturbance deep within the lava. The splodges unveiled a transparent, strawberry red figure, gleaming red-hot. Panting profusely, he crawled out, battling with the agonising pain of his code being shredded and razed, barely making it out in one piece. He collapsed on the stale, cola-brown ground, and his mind blurred into one, single thought: pain.

"O-ow," the figure rubbed his head. The headache was just unbearable…

Actually, what was he thinking about? He was perfect, he couldn't feel anything. He was a god, the way in which he could create or destroy at will without any setbacks. He could wipe away anyone who opposed him. Oh, yes, he was the one who could end this arcade at the snap of his fingers if he wished.

Dusting himself off, he scowled at the home Vanellope made. That little _glitch_, _she_ did this to him! She had to pay, and she had to pay dearly. Oh, yes, he would destroy that little sorry excuse for a home, just wait and see!

Splaying his fingers out wide, he raked his claws down the sign with such a force that the Japanese sign that Vanellope picked out for her home cracked and splintered. Flexing his fingers, he admired his long, sharp claws. He could do _whatever he wanted_. Glaring deeply at the ceiling and dropping his arms to his sides, he clenched his fists as hard as he could, ignoring the resulting sting of pain. Seeing those circular nuisances known as mentos made his stomach turn at the memory of the cola lava piercing his very _being, _like fire melting away skin to ash.

It was all too _funny _that someone _lesser _than him could destroy him in the blink of an eye.

There were many more memories of the foul _glitch _nearby to destroy. He couldn't stop himself from chuckling at the pitiful sight. Gradually extending his claws, he felt a euphoria at the sudden instinct to destroy.

Bursting into hysterical fits of maniacal laughter, he swiped at the wafers, the candy canes, the lollipop sticks...anything that reminded him of that glitch. Panting for breath, he looked around to find other pieces of her memory to destroy in this deserted cave of a volcano. He tore through the makeshift track, his eyes darting from one place to the next. How _dare_ they help that _glitch_! How _dare _they defy the true ruler of Sugar Rush: _himself_! What good would letting a _kid_, never mind a _glitch_, rule over the game? Staring hard at the track as he swiped, he shook with anger and couldn't wait to completely destroy everything that got him into this state in the first place. His hatred boiled, growing fiercer with each swipe he made at the sorry excuse of a track, the snaps and cracks only sweet music to his ears. When the track was full of scratch marks, the red figure decided that he had enough, feeling hungry. He needed to have some code, any code...he needed to eat some code…

Using a claw to scoop up some of the detritus, he put it to his lips and savoured the sweet code within it. There was a reason why he chose Sugar Rush and not the other racing games for him to rule: it had the best code in the entire arcade. Even the racers themselves seemed to have delicious-smelling code, but he didn't want to cause any havoc in Sugar Rush by eating it. After all, he could always go into the forests and eat the code of the ground, the plants, or some curious citizens wandering through. No one would notice a few NPCs missing...

Hah, _that_ plan didn't work. The only way he was ever gonna get some delicious code, now, was by using _force_. Yes, his real form was _perfect _for that job; his perfect, long-clawed, red self. No-one could stop him that way.

No-one.


	5. Lilies

"Hey, what'th that you're reading?"

The twins and Turbo were back at the house, long over their little squabble about the jellybeans. In fact, the twins were all snuggled up on the sofa with a thin red blanket splayed, bunched like little waves, across their laps as they sunk into the fluffy cushions. Every single curtain was closed, leaving only the golden rays of the nearby lamp to reveal the words of the book they were reading. Its cover was pink with small red hearts dotting it, making the title almost illegible. Turbo could see that the twins weren't really enjoying the book by the grimaces that contorted their features every ten pages or so, but he was still curious about its contents. A shadow was cast over their light, and one twin looked up, baffled as to how someone would want to read such trash. He realised it must be Turbo, given away by his white jumpsuit with red stripes. Sighing in exasperation, he lifted the cover up so Turbo could see the title of it.

"'_How To Get A Girlfriend_'?" Turbo read out loud. "Hey, that could help me become friendth with Mith Vanellope!"

The twins shook their heads profusely, as if Turbo was misunderstanding something.

"What doeth it thay?" Turbo peered over the cover, slightly invading the space where the twins were reading. A twin flicked back to the first page, where it had a drawing of a man kneeling down with a bouquet of roses to a flattered woman. The picture was grainy and oddly proportioned, but it was almost as if they'd seen that style before. Concept art, perhaps?

"Flowerth!" Turbo cried out, almost as if he was having a eureka moment. "That'th it! We'll give her thome flowerth, but how?"

One twin shuffled the blanket off of his body, putting a finger up to signify that he had a good idea. He walked over to the bookshelf, grabbing a book. Walking back to the sofa, he tore a page from the book and sat back down. Turbo and the other twin watched in awe as he folded the paper carefully yet quickly, forming an object. Gawking, they watched as the paper seemed to magically form into a flower. Proud of the result, the twin handed his complete creation over to Turbo, who looked more than impressed.

"Thith ith awethome!" Turbo said, leaving the twin sheepishly grinning while rocking himself on the balls of his feet. "Can you teach me how to do that?"

Nodding as the other twin pulled at his sleeve to teach him as well, he tore two more pages out and handed them to the others. The result was four equally-sized squares, the two extra ones left in case they messed it up. Next, he folded the corners diagonally across from each other, opening them up again and slowing down so the others could catch up. When they were done, they turned over the paper, folded it in half, and opened it up again. They turned the paper forty-five degrees and folded it over again, opening the paper back up afterwards. After that, they turned over the paper, pinching the middle parallel mounds of paper toward the centre and folding the other parts into a collapsed square.

The twin looked back to the others, who were looking like they were struggling a bit. Leaning over, he helped bring their paper to the position it was supposed to be in.

Turning the paper forty-five degrees again, they folded a corner toward the middle so that it created a scalene-shaped corner, leaving the paper underneath as-is. They repeated this for the paralleled side as well. Turning the paper over once again, they folded it in the same way onto the other side of the paper, making the paper kite-shaped. Opening one of the flaps, they put a finger inside and collapsed the resulting mound back to the rest of the paper. Closing that back in, they repeated those steps for the paralleled side. They turned over the paper once again, folding in the same way as the other side. Folding the paper back over, like a page in a book, they opened up a flap from both sides and creased the parallel corners to the middle. After a while, doing this to the other sides caused a diamond shape to form. They opened two flaps and put their finger in between the flaps, folding them so that the middle part was now triangular.

"I think I've ruined it!" Turbo frowned, feeling like giving up on the thing. The middle part looked more like a trapezium than a triangle.

The twin simply shook his head and leaned over to correct the shape. "Thankth." Turbo sighed.

Folding the middle part down, they folded it and repeated the same thing for the other sides. Then, they opened the shape and folded the triangular part down. Repeating this for the other sides, they folded to the middle sections. While there, they creased the outer corners toward the centre.

The twin got a pen from the side and curled the top parts of each corner downward like a hair curler. Turbo and the other twin were a bit confused until they saw that it was very much like a lily now. Handing over the pen, the twin watched as the others curled their own lilies, proud of how well he taught them. With a bit more practice, they could easily make perfect flowers in far less time.

The other twin was ecstatic, nearly crushing the flower as he hugged it. Nodding his head in thanks, he made his way outside to play with it.

"Please could you help me make thome more?" Turbo asked the twin, who was headed to the sofa to read another book. He nodded, sitting down with Turbo to practise making five or six more lilies.

* * *

"Thay, do you want to go with me to give them to Mith Vanellope?" Turbo asked the twin as they were busy with the third lily. The twin nodded, folding a corner.

"Okay, that'th good," Turbo smiled. "Maybe the other twin can come with uth?"

The twin sighed breathlessly.

"What'th wrong?" Turbo tilted his head, his smile dwindling. The twin just shook his head, which Turbo took to mean that whatever it was didn't matter. "Okay, if you thay tho..."

After curling all six lilies' petals, the twin collected them and wrapped the stems up in kitchen foil since using more paper would look weird. Turbo now had a whole bouquet of flowers to give to Vanellope. The twin gave the flowers to Turbo with a warm smile.

"Thankth." Turbo smiled, gently taking the flowers as he headed for the door, leaving a puzzled twin wondering where he was going. Realising this, Turbo gestured for him to follow him. "Come on, let'th go to _Tapper_. I think it would be nice to relax after thith."

The twin hadn't heard of _Tapper_, but he did wonder what Turbo was talking about. After all, it did seem like a fun place. Nodding, he made his way to where the garden was, hoping that the other twin would go too. Well, it wasn't _really_ a garden. It was just an empty space surrounded by a fence, but the other twin still looked like he was having fun. He was using his hands to scoop out the dirt, as if he was trying to plant the paper lily in it. Bursting into silent laughter, the approached the other twin and tapped him on the shoulder. The other twin got up, feeling blood rushing to his cheeks. He was only _pretending_. He didn't _actually_ think that the lily would grow in that soil.

Bursting through the back door, the twins caught up to a waiting Turbo, jumping up and down. Turbo smiled, walking out of the house while they followed him. Crossing the field, Turbo saw a very familiar tunnel on the horizon.

"We're here, guyth!" he announced excitedly, running forth towards the tunnel.

* * *

Game Central Station looked emptier than the day before, probably because of the late hour. There were the occasional girl with brown hair and a yellow dress or a blue hedgehog here and there, but it wasn't anything that should have bewildered the twins as much as it did.

Gawking at the scenery, the twins were dragged along by Turbo since they wouldn't move.

"Come on, _Tapper_'th thith way." Turbo groaned as they tried to follow the yellow star-shaped character in the distance.

The twins folded their arms and grimaced as they were thrown on the train. There was so much more to explore there, so why would Turbo just choose _Tapper_? Resting their heads in their hands and sighing, they stared at the other end of the narrow tunnel as they felt themselves get whisked further and further away from Game Central Station.

* * *

Customers filled _Tapper_, some either singing off-key or asking Tapper for some more root beer. Turbo scanned the room, feeling more and more intimidated by the second as big-muscled men towered over him, nearly squashing him if he moved too close. The twins were clinging on to each other as well, not really sure what to do about the situation.

In the end, they decided to sit at a table across from some girls. They seemed to come from a candy-themed game, with flavours ranging from chocolate to strawberries. Well, that was for everyone except for a certain girl, who wore a mint green hoodie. The only thing candy-themed about her was the bits of candy in her raven black hair and a liquorice piece tying it back. Turbo approached them, figuring they would be friendly enough.

"Hi!" Turbo waved at the girls, catching their attention. "Do you know anyone called-"

The strawberry-themed racer took her red lollipop stick from her mouth and grimaced at Turbo, causing him to be taken aback and take an involuntary step backwards. She just sighed and rolled her eyes at him in response. "Three...two...one..."

"Hey, what you doin', punk?"

Turbo turned around and saw a tall dark shadow cast over him. Not only was the source of the shadow particularly muscular, he was also heavily armoured in robes vaguely resembling a ninja. The twins, who read about evil ninjas in a book, cowered behind a chair. "Oh, thorry, I wath jutht-"

The muscular guy scooped Turbo up by the scruff of his collar. Some people stopped what they were doing, wondering what all the fuss was about. They gasped at what was happening. "Who you talkin' to?"

"W-well, I wath jutht athking-"

"She's not interested," the man hissed. Turbo looked behind him to find the strawberry-themed racer giving him a smug look. "Look at me!"

Turbo snapped his head toward the man, now feeling petrified.

"I see what you're doing with them." the man grunted, gesturing to the paper lilies, which were now dropped on the floor. "And I'm gonna teach you what it means to mess with me."

He gently put Turbo down, turning away from him. Oh, phew, he didn't mean it. He wasn't going to-

A loud rip rang in Turbo's ears.

Turbo's gaze snapped toward the man, his eyes widening. No, he couldn't have been doing _that_, he spent hours on them, he-

Another tear.

"This is the lesson that I have to teach ya." the man turned back around, sprinkling paper that Turbo didn't want to believe was from the lilies, on the floor. He then bent down and grabbed another lily before swiftly ripping it to shreds.

Turbo' eyes widened and his mouth fell open, though no sound came out.

"Aw, is the little _Turby Wurby _getting upset?" the man mocked, his words venom to Turbo's ears. Turbo felt his eyes cloud over and his heart race faster. Even though he wasn't cold or greatly afraid, he was shaking. He could only see the ruined lilies on the floor. Rubbing his shoulder and looking down, he watched the man mercilessly rip up another flower and walk closer to him. Turbo felt his breath on his face, like an alpha male challenging a submissive intruder. "Who would want you, anyway? You're _programmed_ to be a narcissist. You don't _deserve_ happiness, nor do you have _feelings_, so stop _pretending_."

Turbo cowered down. He began to wish that he _didn't _have feelings. The trouble was, Turbo could feel every word.


	6. Ascended Glitch

It was a beautiful, warm day in Sugar Rush without a single fluffy cotton candy cloud in the sky. Vanellope was sitting with her new friends Taffyta and Candlehead on a sugar-coated blanket in an opening of the peppermint tree forest. The blanket was pale red, with bowls made of dark chocolate, filled with various candies, scattered across it. Taffyta, a strawberry-themed racer, grabbed a lolly from one of the bowls and rolled her eyes at the sight of Vanellope trying to stuff as many types of sweets into her mouth at once as she could.

"Say, Vanellope," Taffyta began, carefully twisting the wrapper from the lolly.

Vanellope suddenly stopped eating, sprinkles still caked around her mouth, eliciting a sigh from Taffyta. "Have you heard about the retro party that Litwak's putting on?"

"Oh, yeah, it's awesome!" Vanellope chomped on her food, her words muffled and barely audible. "I've heard that Tapper's having a discount on the drinks tonight to celebrate it. Do you wanna go?"

Taffyta sighed. "Vanilla, do you know how busy it is when there's a discount? We'll get crushed if we go there."

Vanilla was the nickname that Taffyta gave to Vanellope after finding out she was really a princess, similar to how a parent would call a child "Pumpkin". Of course, the nickname "Pumpkin" was reserved for Gloyd, so every racer who was friends with each other got their very own nickname. Taffyta was "Taffy" and Candlehead was, well...Candlehead. Candlehead _was _the nickname, except no-one knew her _real _name - not even Candlehead herself.

"Well, _Taffy,_" Vanellope got up from the blanket, her hands on her hips and a smirk forming to let her know she wasn't trying to be mean. "I can _easily_ glitch us all out if we needed to."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Candlehead's eyes widened.

"Yeah, sure," Vanellope skipped over to the tunnel, her ponytail bouncing and waved for the others to come over. "Come on, it's closing soon!"

Taffyta slowly stood up and looked at Candlehead, putting her lolly in her mouth. "You're paying."

* * *

As Taffyta expected, _Tapper _was very full. There were all kinds of idiots singing old tunes she'd never even heard of before and nearly stepping on some characters who wouldn't have a chance of survival if they got trampled on, such as the smaller characters. Tapper himself was very busy, exaggerated drops of sweat running down his face as he was serving some impatient customers.

"Let's sit here," Vanellope pointed at a table in the corner, thankfully a good distance away from the other patrons.

Meanwhile, Candlehead was fearfully dodging the stampede of customers, regretfully wishing she didn't agree to this entire thing. Well, she _didn't_, but she also didn't want to disappoint Vanellope. After all, Candlehead was the one who helped bully Vanellope, and she used to be a very strong follower of what Taffyta did to her. Candlehead looked up to Taffyta before they found out Vanellope was a princess, but now she wasn't so sure. They were the best of friends, but she now found herself growing distant from her and being a lot more careful about who she followed. Should she continue following everyone else's actions? After all, they landed her in a lot of trouble, even making herself become the opposite of who she was. Luckily, Vanellope forgave her, but she never wanted to do that to anyone else ever again.

"Over here!" Vanellope waved to Candlehead, who was only just making it through the sea of characters. Luckily, her candle didn't blow out from all the singing, but her helmet was twisted and her hair was sticking out.

"My hair is such a mess..." Candlehead chuckled, adjusting her helmet and combing her hair with her fingers.

"Still better-looking than Stinkbrain!" Vanellope laughed as Candlehead sat down at the opposite end of the table to Taffyta and Vanellope. Of course, the tables were in rows, but Candlehead cheated a bit by bringing the chair to the other side of the table so she could communicate with the others better.

Tapper came to the table at a surprising speed given that his hands were full from the other customers and the fact that they had only just sat down. "May I take your order...?"

"Three root beers, please," Vanellope said in a cheerful tone, not noticing Candlehead staring blankly into space.

Someone called for Tapper from another table. "Okay, coming!" he breathed, leaving Vanellope worried about him and Taffyta wondering whether he even heard what they said.

"Hey, is that...?"

Vanellope watched as Candlehead's face paled, pointing in the direction of some people behind them. "What? What's the matter?" Vanellope stared at Candlehead, wondering if she needed to go to the hospital. She looked like she saw an alien.

Slowly turning, Vanellope and Taffyta spun their stools. Just below them, a character in a white jumpsuit with red stripes was staring up at them with what looked to Taffyta like feigned innocence.

_"Turbo..." _Vanellope mumbled under her breath. No, this was impossible, he couldn't be alive...!

"Hi!" He waved at them. "Do you know anyone called-"

Taffyta's face hardened, almost as if she was mentally killing him in her head. To Vanellope's surprise, he jumped back a bit, as if he didn't expect such a reaction. In fact, it was as if he didn't recognise them _at all_.

Taffyta sighed and rolled her eyes, taking the lollipop stick out of her mouth. She briefly looked to the side, noticing that there was a drinking competition that was just about to finish. There was no doubt that the loser would lash out at anyone nearby that was male, no matter how scrawny, considering the competitive look in their eyes that she was all too familiar with. She had seen it in both herself and her friends during a race. "Three...two...one..."

A _Mortal Kombat_ character approached, root beer pouring out of the glass he was holding sideways. He was heavily armed in metal that was painted grey and yellow. She personally felt he very much resembled a ninja in his appearance. His eyes were a pearl white, with no pupils at all and they reminded Vanellope of a ghost possessing a human, which was slightly frightening. "Hey, what you doin', punk?"

Turbo looked up at the man, no sign of fear evident at all. "Oh, thorry, I wath jutht-"

The muscular guy scooped Turbo up by the scruff of his collar. Some people stopped their activity, wondering what all the fuss was about. They looked closer, gasping at the event. Vanellope started to grimace. Yeah, sure, it _was _Turbo, but something like this reminded her of when _she _got bullied. Nobody deserved it. "Who you talkin' to?"

"W-well, I wath jutht athking-"

"She's not interested," the Mortal Kombat guy hissed. Taffyta just gave a smug look to Turbo. After all, he _was _the one that ruined their lives. "Look at me!"

Turbo snapped his head toward the man.

"I see what you're doing with them." The man hissed. The man gestured to something on the floor. "And, well, I'm gonna teach you what it means to mess with me."

Vanellope saw something at the corner of her eye that looked like flowers made out of paper. Why would Turbo carry flowers around with him? Somebody would only carry around flowers like that to give to someone else, and from what Vanellope knew, Turbo was selfish. Nothing seemed to add up. Unless...

Vanellope could see the Mortal Kombat Guy making a dent in the flowers, slowly ripping them up on purpose. What if they were a gift from someone else? Vanellope cringed as another flower was torn up and Turbo's eyes grew misty. She thought back to the time when _her kart _was smashed and how horrified she was to see her creation destroyed. She remembered her voice pleading desperately for Ralph to _stop, _that she would have _listened _and she would have _done anything_. Yet, he hadn't heard her. He had crushed her dreams in the blink of an eye.

_"Aw, is the little __**Turby Wurby **__getting upset?"_

But he came back. He restored her dreams, her hopes, and helped her enter _a race. _She had waited fifteen years for that moment where she could drive on the tracks. It had been her _dream_, destroyed and then restored. She felt so _alive. _When she had told Ralph she was okay when she was about to die, she really was. All her life she wanted to race, and her life was now complete.

_"Who would want you, anyway? You're __**programmed**__ to be a narcissist. You don't __**deserve**__ happiness, nor do you have __**feelings**__, so stop __**pretending**__."_

This wasn't Turbo. This was someone else trapped in Turbo's body; she could feel it in her code. That look Turbo gave the man could only remind her of when her kart had been destroyed by someone she trusted.

Getting off and kicking the stool to the side, Vanellope ignored the gasps and stared at the Mortal Kombat Guy straight in the eye. He raised an eyebrow, as if someone challenged _him _of all people.

"Why don't you try looking at _yourself_?" Vanellope crossed her arms, built up saliva, and spit it near the Mortal Kombat guy. Gasps filled the room again, with Turbo still holding back tears.

Mortal Kombat Guy just smirked and shook his head. "I thought that you of all people would understand..."

Vanellope straightened her posture, pulling off an authoritative stance naturally programmed into her. "This isn't Turbo! I mean, look at him!"

Two blue and white jumpsuited racers were patting Turbo's shoulders, giving such harsh death glares to Mortal Kombat Guy that it even made him flinch. It was the sort of look that only true friends could give to someone who hurt their pal. Tapper broke out of his frightened trance, moving his mug to the side. He walked up to Mortal Kombat Guy. "I going to have to ask you to leave, sir."

Mortal Kombat Guy glared at Tapper. "What, for ripping up another man's junk?"

Vanellope saw Turbo twitch slightly at that remark.

"That's a _boy _you're talking to, not a _man__._" Tapper shook his head.

When Mortal Kombat Guy didn't move, only giving Tapper a challenging look, Vanellope nudged at him as hard as she could.

"He wants you to leave, so _leave_!" Vanellope yelled at him.

"_Shut up,_" Mortal Kombat Guy growled, though Vanellope didn't flinch at all.

"Yeah, right." Vanellope rolled her eyes. "Like _you're_ gonna hurt me."

"Why, you..."

Mortal Kombat Guy swung his fist at Vanellope. She closed her eyes and enveloped herself in a blue glow, bits of code separating as she teleported to another table. Mortal Kombat Guy punched a glass instead.

"Come on, you can do better than that!" Vanellope taunted, sticking her tongue out. She almost didn't notice the next aimless punch. "Uh-oh."

She teleported several times to numerous places, confusing Mortal Kombat Guy and bewildering everyone else - even Turbo. "Can't catch me!"

He swung again.

"Try again!"

Another swing.

"Oops, you're too slow!"

Eventually, sweat started to run down Mortal Kombat Guy's face as he panted for breath. Vanellope saw Turbo gawk at her with the corner of her eye. Yep, he definitely hadn't seen her glitch before.

Vanellope held Candlehead and Taffyta's hands before gesturing the twins and Turbo to follow suit. "Hold on!"

Though they didn't understand the situation, Turbo and the twins held on to Vanellope's shoulder. She closed her eyes, feeling electrifying energy and her code separating.

When they all opened their eyes again, they were back at the entrance to the tunnel with Mortal Kombat Guy running toward them. It appeared that he recovered from his short-lived rest.

"Quick, get to the train!" Vanellope gestured. They didn't question it, figuring that they'd rather not suffer Mortal Kombat Guy's wrath. Running down the tunnel, they saw the familiar blue train arrive just in time.

"Hop on!" Vanellope ordered, and everyone obeyed. When the train conductor saw the muscular man thunder toward them, he did not hesitate to get the train moving. The twins stuck their tongues out at Mortal Kombat Guy as he shook a fist in the air at the edge of the track.

"That wath clothe..." Turbo sighed, sitting next to Vanellope. He was still upset about the lilies. He regarded her curiously, wondering who she was and why she wanted to help him. After all, he didn't see anyone else stand up for him. "What'th your name?"

Vanellope turned from where Mortal Kombat Guy was and looked directly at Turbo. "Well..." She smirked, stretching her arms out in a dramatic way, "...my name is President Vanellope von Schweetz! Nice to meet you!"


End file.
